Linda Line

Linda Line
Industry	passenger transportation
Founded	1997
Defunct	November 2017
Area served	Tallinn, Estonia and Helsinki, Finland

Last updated June 24, 2022

Linda Line was the brand name of Lindaliini AS, an Estonian ferry company operating between Tallinn, Estonia and Helsinki, Finland. Its high-speed passenger ferry Karolin was the fastest vessel sailing between the two cities, linking Tallinn's Linnahall terminal and Helsinki's Makasiini terminal in 100 minutes. The company was founded in 1997.^[1] It ceased operations in November 2017 and filed for bankruptcy in May 2018.

History

Lindaliini AS was founded in 1997 as the successor of shipping company Inreko Laeva AS. It started operations with a fleet of three hydrofoils, which were able to make the journey between Tallinn and Helsinki in an hour and a half, much faster than the conventional ferries serving the same route.

Starting in 2007, the hydrofoils were replaced with catamarans, which were less expensive to maintain and had better seaworthiness. Still catamarans are more dependent on the weather than traditional vessels, and Linda Line had a policy of cancelling departures when wind speeds exceeded 15 metres per second and/or wave heights were over 3 metres.^[2]

In 2017, Linda Lines announced the delivery of a new vessel for 2018. Operations ended in November 2017, and Merilin and Karolin were sold off. The announced delivery of the new vessel was initially announced to be delayed. The company eventually filed for bankruptcy in May 2018.^[3]

Fleet

Ship	Line	Type	Purchased/Delivered	In service	Sold	Current name	Notes
Karolin	Tallinn–Helsinki	Catamaran	2008	2009–2017	2017		Built in Australia in 2000, damaged in a storm in summer 2008. She had a capacity of 353 passengers and a maximum speed of 37 knots.^[1]^[4]
Merilin	Tallinn–Helsinki	Catamaran	2007	2007–2017	2017	Eldorado	Linda Line’s largest high-speed vessel
Juku	Tallinn–Aegna	Passenger ship	2008	2008–2009			Acquired by AS Kihnu Veeteed.
Jaanika	Tallinn–Helsinki	Hydrofoil	1997	1997–2007	2008	Hermes	Now serving the Sochi–Trabzon line in Russia.
Laura	Tallinn–Helsinki	Hydrofoil	1997	1997–2006	2007	Marine Princess	Later served the Nessebar–Istanbul line, now decommissioned.
Liisa	Tallinn–Helsinki	Double decker hydrofoil	1997	1997–1998	1998	Delfini XXX	Now operating in Greece under the ownership of Thirian Coastlines Shipping Co.
Linda Express	Tallinn–Helsinki	Foiling catamaran	2002	2002–2004	2004	Shi Ji Kuai Hang	Constantly experiencing problems, it was the world’s fastest passenger ship at the time.
Sea Flower	Tallinn–Helsinki	Trimaran	–	–	–	Sea Flower	Purchase planned for 2008/9 but not completed.

In 2008, Linda Line planned to purchase a trimaran-type vessel for the Tallinn–Helsinki route, intended to replace hydrofoil Jaanika. The trimaran would have been safer and slightly larger than Merilin. The launch was initially planned for April 2009, but this was soon postponed to June 26, and the purchase was ultimately not completed for unknown reasons. Linda Line started the 2009 season with two catamarans, Merilin and the newly acquired Karolin.

Tallinn–Helsinki route

In Tallinn, the Linda Line high-speed ferries departed from Linnahall terminal and in Helsinki from Makasiini terminal. Both ships had a Linda class and a VIP class separated from the rest of the cabin, and the company offered a variety of hotel and leisure packages in Helsinki.

Tallinn–Aegna route

On April 16, 2008, the Tallinn City Government decided to award the contract for the Tallinn-Aegna shipping line to Linda Line. The decision was also helped by a decision made at the end of March to have the route depart from Linnahall terminal instead of Pirita. The line was operated by the small passenger ship Juku. At the beginning of 2010, the right to operate the route with Juku was granted to AS Kihnu Veeteed.

Fleet by year

Years	Ships
1997	Jaanika, Laura, Liisa
1998–2001	Jaanika, Laura
2002–2004	Jaanika, Laura, Linda Express
2005–2006	Jaanika, Laura
2007	Jaanika, Merilin
2008	Merilin
2009	Merilin, Karolin
2010–	Merilin, Karolin
2017	Karolin
2018	–

Related Research Articles

A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains speed, the hydrofoils lift the boat's hull out of the water, decreasing drag and allowing greater speeds.

A ferry is a vessel used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi.

Viking Line Abp is a Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between Finland, the Åland Islands, Sweden and Estonia. Viking Line shares are quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Viking Line is operated from Åland.

Aegna is an Estonian island in the Bay of Tallinn in the Baltic Sea. Administratively it is part of the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia and is a sub district of the Kesklinn district.

MS Silja Europa is a cruiseferry constructed at Meyer Werft Germany for the Swedish ferry operator Rederi AB Slite, a part of Viking Line. At 59,914 gross tonnage (GT), she is the largest ship commissioned for and to ever operate for Tallink Silja, and is the tenth-largest cruiseferry in the world.

Red Funnel, the trading name of the Southampton Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Limited, is a ferry company that carries passengers, vehicles and freight on routes between the English mainland and the Isle of Wight. High-speed foot passenger catamarans, known as Red Jets, run between Southampton and Cowes, while vehicle ferries run between Southampton and East Cowes.

Copterline Oy was Finland's largest helicopter airline established on 15 October 1990 as Copter Action and renamed to Copterline in 2000. In 2004 the company ferried over 75,000 passengers. On December 19, 2008, Copterline confirmed that it had ceased its scheduled service between Helsinki and Tallinn. On 15 February 2010, Copterline filed for bankruptcy, citing inability to keep the company profitable. Its head office was located on the grounds of Helsinki-Malmi Airport in Helsinki. In 2011, Line Support Oy, founded by mostly the same group as Copterline Oy, announced a resumption of service from September, operated by its Estonian subsidiary Copterline OÜ. On 9 September 2011, the first commercial flights were undertaken.

Tallink is an Estonian shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden, Latvia to Sweden and Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea region. It owns Silja Line and a part of SeaRail. Tallink Hotels runs four hotels in Tallinn and one in Riga. It is also the co-owner of a taxi company Tallink Takso.

MS Bluefort was an accommodation vessel owned by the Canadian-based company Bridgemans Services Group LP. She was built in 1979 as a car/passenger ferry by Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany as Diana II av Slite for Rederi AB Slite for use in Viking Line's traffic. She has also sailed under the names Diana II, Vironia, Mare Balticum, Meloodia and ARV 1.

Linnahall is a multi-purpose venue in Tallinn, Estonia. It is situated in the harbour, just beyond the walls of the Old Town, and was completed in 1980. It is not to be confused with the primary administrative building of the historical municipal government (Raad) of Tallinn, often referred to as the Town Hall. The venue also features a heliport and a small sea port.

Super Runner Jet is a fast ferry owned and operated by Seajets. She was built in 1999 at Fincantieri, Riva Trigoso, Italy, for Sea Containers, but entered service only in 2000 for Sea Container's subsidiary Silja Line. In 2006 she was transferred to another Sea Containers subsidiary, SuperSeaCat. In 2009 she began service with Aegean Speed Lines between Piraeus, Serifos, Sifnos, Milos, Kimolos, Folegandros and Sikinos, as well as Paros and Naxos. In 2016, she was sold to Golden Star Ferries and renamed it Super Runner. In June 2021 Golden Star Ferries sold to Seajets her ships Superferry II, Superspeed, Supercat and Super Runner. Seajets renamed it Super Runner Jet.

A high-speed craft (HSC) is a high-speed water vessel for civilian use, also called a fastcraft or fast ferry. The first high-speed craft were often hydrofoils or hovercraft, but in the 1990s catamaran and monohull designs become more popular and large hydrofoils and hovercraft are no longer built. Most high-speed craft serve as passenger ferries, but the largest catamarans and monohulls also carry cars, buses, large trucks and freight.

Fred. Olsen Express is an inter-island ferry service based in the Canary Islands, Spain. It operates a fleet of six modern fast ferries on five routes. Its fleet includes a trimaran fast ferry, the Benchijigua Express, which was the first such vehicle in the world when it entered service in 2005. The company is owned by the Olsen family-controlled Bonheur and Ganger Rolf, which among other things also owns the shipping companies Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and First Olsen Tankers.

SuperSeaCat was a shipping company operating fast ferries between Helsinki, Finland and Tallinn, Estonia during the years 2006–2008. It was jointly owned by Sea Containers and the Greece-based Aegean Speed Lines.

MS Stena Superfast VII is a fast Ro-Pax ferry owned by Stena Line and operated on their service between Belfast and Cairnryan. Built in 2001 by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) in Kiel, Germany for Attica Group's subsidiary Superfast Ferries, she was sold to her current owners in 2017.

The Baltic Sea is crossed by several cruiseferry lines. Some important shipping companies are Viking Line, Silja Line, Tallink, St. Peter Line and Eckerö Line.

The SuperCat Fast Ferry Corporation, commonly known as SuperCat, was a shipping company that operated a fleet of high-speed catamarans (HSC) in the Philippines. It is now part of Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corporation. Supercat was the sister company of SuperFerry, Cebu Ferries and 2GO Travel. Supercat operated 7 vessels in 7 ports around the Philippines.

Kitsap Fast Ferries is a passenger ferry service operating between Seattle and Kitsap County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is funded and operated by Kitsap Transit and began service in July 2017, with a single boat traveling between Seattle and Bremerton. A second route, from Seattle to Kingston, launched in November 2018, and a third route serving Seattle and Southworth began operating in March 2021. In 2021, the system had a ridership of 573,200, or about 24,900 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2021.

TS Laevad is an Estonian ferry company which operates two routes between the Estonian mainland and the islands of Hiiumaa and Muhu in the Baltic Sea..

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[linda-1] 1 2 Lindaline.ee

[2] ERR News. Bad weather disrupts some ferry services on Monday.

[3] ERR News. Linda Line declared bankrupt by court.

[4] Faktaomfartyg.se (Swedish)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]